Site Event/Activity record ESF22358 - Detailed Magnetometer Survey, Land Off Thelnetham Road, Hopton

PROJECT DETAILS Detailed fluxgate gradiometer survey was undertaken by Britannia Archaeology Ltd over two fields (3.29 hectares) on the 12th - 13th May 2014. Despite the sites potential for encountering anomalies of possible prehistoric origin, only a relatively narrow range may be of an archaeological derivation. Isolated dipolar responses were most numerous throughout the dataset and have probably been caused by the presence of modern ferrous cultural debris introduced into the topsoil through manuring and loss, rather than resulting from the presence of buried archaeological artefacts. Six areas of magnetic disturbance were recorded in the dataset, predominantly located in the north-eastern part of the larger field and within the football pitch to the north, caused by the presence of extant ferrous football posts and by the location of ferrous material and fences along the boundaries. A series of weak positive linear trends have been recorded in both fields orientated north-east to south-west, they are potentially indicative of agricultural strip fields. Further recorded in the dataset were two negative linear trends that are likely to delineate the location of non-ferrous service runs, present near to the eastern and western boundaries of the larger field. Sixteen positive discrete anomalies present predominantly within the northern half of the agricultural field are indicative of archaeological rubbish pits, however this area has been used for bonfires and quarrying which may explain the readings. One weak positive curvilinear anomaly present in the north-western corner of the agricultural field may be indicative of a ring ditch, however equally this anomaly may have been caused by a natural change in the superficial geology. Further targeted trial trenching to ground- test the hypotheses given in this report would be prudent. Project status: Complete Yes, Validated Yes Previous/Future Work: Previous No, Future Yes Associated Identifiers: Contracting Unit No. P1060 Contracting Unit No. R1057 Sitecode HPN 026 Project Type: Field evaluation Development Type: Housing estate Methods and Techniques: ''Geophysical Survey'' Position in the Planning Process: Pre-application Reason for Investigation: National Planning Policy Framework - NPPF Site status: None Current Land use: Cultivated Land 3 - Operations to a depth more than 0.25m Monument Type(s)/Period(s): NONE None Artefact Type(s)/Period(s): NONE None PROJECT LOCATION Area 3.29 Hectares Grid Reference: TL993789 Point Height 30.00 - 30.00 metres PROJECT CREATOR(S) Organisation: Britannia Archaeology Ltd Brief originator: Local Planning Authority (with/without advice from County/District Archaeologist) Design originator: Timothy Schofield Director/Manager: Timothy Schofield Supervisor: Timothy Schofield DIGITAL ARCHIVE Recipient: Suffolk HER Contents: 'Survey' Media: 'Geophysics', 'Images raster / digital photography', 'Images vector', 'Survey', 'Text' PAPER ARCHIVE Recipient: Suffolk HER Contents: 'Survey' Media: 'Plan', 'Report', 'Survey ', 'Unpublished Text' BIBLIOGRAPHY Publication Type: Grey literature (unpublished document/manuscript) Title: Land off Thelnetham Road, Hopton, Suffolk; Detailed Magnetometer Survey. Author(s)/Editor(s): Schofield, T.P Other Bibliographic Details: R1057 Date: 2014 Issuer/Publisher: Britannia Archaeology Ltd Place of Issue or Publication: Stowmarket Description: A4 Bound Report with A3 fold-out Figures. URL: www.britannia-archaeology.com